Read More

But it was his role as a key cog in the great Pontypridd teams of the 1990s and early this century, teams which won Welsh League and Cup titles and scared the living daylights out of the giants of European rugby, for which he will be remembered most.

Their tough, rough, uncompromising, never-take-a-step back valleys mentality earned memorable victories over Bath, Leicester Tigers and a Munster team in its pomp.

Genial giant McIntosh has gone on to coach Ponty, Cardiff Blues and is now at Welsh Principality Premiership new boys Merthyr.

And in his work as a rugby development officer, he also identified and helped bring through a range of talent.

All in all, not a bad contribution to rugby in his adopted country – and these are the Chief’s fascinating recollections of on-field triumphs and off-field escapades...

The journey to Wales

Read More

When McIntosh first decided to come to Wales, he was just a kid in rugby terms and he never foresaw a long term future here.

Like a lot of young southern hemisphere prospects, he wanted an experience up north and was prepared to go wherever fate decreed.

The Chief explained: “My brother Shane was already here. I was playing for King Country in New Zealand when Ceri Jones, the Wales A centre, and ‘Roundhead’ Garin Jenkins, the Wales hooker, came over to play.

“When they headed home to Pontypridd I followed them, but I was just an 18-year-old coming to Wales to play a bit of rugby and have an experience overseas.

“I was only supposed to be here for a season.

“I did actually go home at the end of it but was invited back for the next and the same happened the following year.

“In the end I settled here.

“I used to look out on Lake Taupo, one of the most beautiful sights in New Zealand, now it’s the sewage beds in Ynysbwl.

“But hey, we all make the same contribution to them no matter where we are!”

Read More

How he got the nickname Chief

It is a tag that is simply synonymous with McIntosh, the famous ‘Chief, Chief, Chief’ chant of the Pontypridd faithful one of the most famous of them all.

But what are the origins of it?

“I walked into Ynysbwl RFC wearing a big bomber jacket and Dicky Owen, who’s a beaut, said: ‘It’s the Chief (Bromden) from the film One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’,” McIntosh explained.

“That was it, it stuck, and I’ve been called Chief ever since.

“At the time I hadn’t even seen the film, but when I did I laughed.

“I showed it to my son – who is 21 now – four years ago and he just burst out laughing when he saw the Chief.”

The Chief’s favourite tackle

As a player McIntosh was renowned for his big hits.

He put himself and Pontypridd on the map when he almost cut then Lions and England forward star Andy Robinson in two with a trademark tackle during a 19-6 triumph over English aristocrats Bath in 1996.

Sardis Road wasn’t called the House of Pain for nothing, and Robinson was clutching his ribs and wincing with pain after being KO’d by the almighty hit.

“It was like home from home at Ponty. We played and partied hard. We had a lot of respect for and worked hard for each other. On and off the pitch we had some great times.

“We already had a reputation in Wales but that game with Bath got us noticed to a wider audience because the European Cup was a new concept.”

Yet the Chief doesn’t count the Robinson hit as his all-time No1.

“It wasn’t a bad hit on Robinson but it wasn’t my best,” he insisted.

“My favourite was a tackle on Swansea’s Stuart Davies which most people probably forget. The reason I say that was Stuart was a player I always had admiration and respect for because he was hard and uncompromising, but a really good bloke.”

“Those words really hit home with me as they were said with so much of the game still left to play.

“I said: ‘You’ve done sod all yet bro!’.

“That was my attitude and we knew we were a good side.

“We had our backs against the wall but came through and won that game. It was a memorable day for us all.”

The Battle of Brive

Dale McIntosh is sent from the field

It’s an off-field incident that has gone down in Welsh rugby folklore.

In 1997 Pontypridd played Brive and became involved in a post-match punch up in one of the French town’s bars that has infamously become known, along with what took place on the pitch earlier, as the Battle of Brive.

The Chief was fully caught up in the ruckus having been sent off during the match. He was arrested, and had to face a French magistrate.

“Brive tried something they shouldn’t have in that match, and we stood up to them because nobody was going to bully us,” said McIntosh.

“We had some kids playing in that game, but we also had some tough guys who could hold their own. Look, we never had a problem if it turned rough.

“We would probably have had more of a problem if Brive had wanted to play rugby rather than square up to us because they had some great players!”

Arrested in Toulouse...then carpeted by the Ponty hierarchy

The Battle of Brive, rather unfortunately, did not mark the end of trouble for Pontypridd and McIntosh on French soil.

After a Heineken Cup clash against Colomiers, the Chief and a few of his team mates found themselves in a police cell. One of them had even wrestled a police dog as they were bundled into custody.

“We’d gone to a nightclub in Toulouse and got into a bit of fight,” said the Chief.

Pontypridd secretary and legendary stalwart, the late Cenydd Thomas, was an ex-police chief superintendent.

Thomas was always prepared to back Ponty to the hilt, but this time even he was furious and decided it was time certain members of the squad were read the riot act.

“About eight of us were marched into the boardroom and we were crapping ourselves,” said McIntosh.

“Cenydd told us we were a disgrace to the club and they had had enough because it was about the fourth time some of us had been arrested.

“We were warned in no uncertain terms that if it happened again we would be sacked on the spot.”

Thomas stormed out, but quickly returned with a question.

“He said: ‘By the way, what happened to the French police dog?’,” McIntosh remembers.

“During the incident the Gendarmes had set a dog on us but one of our players, Sven Cronk, was a judo expert. He got the dog in a hold and temporarily rendered it unconscious and left it lying there.

“We’d all forgotten about the poor mutt but Cenydd had found out about it from somewhere.

“When he mentioned it we couldn’t help ourselves, we were all in stitches.”

A big let-down in Dowlais

McIntosh and Neil Jenkins pictured in 1996

The Chief and Neil Jenkins forged an unbreakable bond while at Ponty which survives to this day. They’re the best of pals.

And so it’s no surprise that they’ve been involved in no end of scrapes and shenanigens.

But there were times when they were the victims, like when they attended the funeral of another character, the popular Wales reserve scrum-half and Newbridge captain Steve Fealey, who had tragically died following an industrial accident.

“Me and ‘Jenks’ went to Dowlais RFC after the funeral and we’d just had some new motors from Just Rentals, who were sponsoring Ponty,” explained McIntosh.

“We’d only had a couple drinks of shandy because we were training that night, but when we left we found the Dowlais boys had been out there and let down the tyres of our cars, which were emblazoned with the Just Rentals logo.

“We had to roll them down a hill to a garage and pump them up!”

Changing times...from crazy days to an era of social media

McIntosh is now a respected professional coach at Merthyr RFC and is fully aware of the demands placed on everybody involved in the game and the standards they are expected to adhere to.

He cannot help but smile wryly as he considers how times have changed.

“Back when I was at Ponty, well, those were crazy days and we got into some scrapes,” he admitted.

“There was no compromise, it was one in, all in if anybody started on us.

“Then one day you wake up and smell the roses. You realise you can’t do those sort of things any more and you grow up.

Dale McIntosh

“But I wouldn’t swap those times for anything because of the friendships I’ve made. I’m glad I played in the era I did because today’s players are under too much scrutiny with social media and the like.

“They can’t be themselves when they step out of the front door of their homes, they have to be who the public perceive. Wages have become more important than loyalty.

“It’s different to my day.

“When I look back at playing for Pontypridd, there’s not a single player who didn’t give everything for the jersey and the cause.

“The front-rowers Phil John, Neil Eynon and Nigel Bezani were the biggest characters. They were wind-up merchants, who just sat there and ridiculed people. You just couldn’t say anything to get the better of them.”

This weekend’s return to the House of Pain

Pontypridds' Dale McIntosh leads the team out on his 400th cap for the club against Llanelliin 2005

The wheel has turned full circle with McIntosh returning to the House of Pain, complete with its new artificial pitch, on Saturday in his role as coach of Merthyr for a crunch league match.

Along the way he’s twice been caretaker coach at Cardiff Blues and still has ambitions to again coach at professional level, whether it’s at a Welsh region, in England’s Aviva Premiership or further afield.

But for now, one thing is for sure,... he’s determined to enjoy his return to Sardis Road.

“I’m meeting up with Jenks for a few beers, after the game mind!” he said.